# kitsch
## English
### Etymology

From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen (“to coat, to smear”); the word and concept were popularized in the 1930s by several critics who contrasted it with avant garde art.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) enPR: kĭch, IPA: /kɪt͡ʃ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪtʃ
* Homophone: Kizh

### Noun

kitsch (usually uncountable, plural kitsches)
* Art, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
** 1939, Clement Greenberg, “Avant Garde and Kitsch”, in The Partisan Review‎, archived from the original on 13 October 2007:Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

#### Synonyms

* camp

#### Derived terms

* Holo-kitsch
* kitschify
* kitschy

#### Translations
### Adjective

kitsch (comparative kitscher or more kitsch, superlative kitschest or most kitsch)
* Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
** 1989, Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989, →ISBN, page 243:[…] a picture of lemur-eyed children of the sort one sees in the kitscher sort of Italian restaurant […]
** June/July 1996, Robert Silberman, “The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio”, in American Craft, pages 40–45:Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.
** spring 2005, Ronald Frame, “Critical Paranoia”, in Michigan Quarterly Review, page 285:I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

#### Usage notes

* Although the forms kitscher and kitschest are attested, those formed on kitschy are more common, particularly for the comparative.

#### Synonyms

* corny

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* schtik, shtick, skitch, thicks

## French
### Alternative forms

* kitch

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kitʃ/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)
* kitsch

### Adjective

kitsch (invariable)
* kitsch

### Further reading

* “kitsch”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Italian
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkit͡ʃ/
* Rhymes: -itʃ

### Adjective

kitsch (invariable)
* kitsch
    Synonym: pacchiano

### Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)
* kitsch

### References

* ↑ kitsch in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

### Further reading

* kitsch in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

### Adjective

kitsch (invariable)
* kitsch; kitschy (of questionable aesthetic value)

### Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)
* kitsch (art of questionable aesthetic value)

### Further reading

* “kitsch”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

### Noun

kitsch n (plural kitschuri)
* kitsch

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Kitsch.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkit͡ʃ/ [ˈkit͡ʃ]

### Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)
* kitsch

### Adjective

kitsch (invariable)
* kitschy
    Synonyms: cursi, hortera

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

### Further reading

* “kitsch”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

### Pronunciation

* (Sweden) IPA: /kɪtɧ/

### Noun

kitsch c (uncountable)
* kitsch
    Min mosters handmålade madonnastaty i elfenben är ren kitsch.My aunt's hand-painted ivory Madonna statue is pure kitsch.

#### Derived terms

* kitschig

### References

* kitsch in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* kitsch in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)